Cleaning system for boilers



Dec, 1,1925` 1,563,909

S. J. LUPTON CLEANING SYSTEM FOR BOLERS l Filed Nov. 20. 1924 v 2 Sheets-Sheet l /7 l INVENTOR T m SAMUEL J.' LUPTo/v x N k /7 I t/Magma Deco 1, 1925 1.7565909 S. J. LUPTON CLEANING SYSTEM FOR BOILERS Filed Nov, 20.11924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 i Mv@ En@ E "EL IZ fflly Y ;LI/Q

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Patented Dec. i, 1925.

l UNITED 'STATES- PATENT oFFlcE.

' 'SAMUEL JoHN LUPToNp or- WINNIPEG; MANITonA, CANADA.

'CLEANING SYSTEM FOR/BOITIERS.

Application filed November T o all whom it mayiconcm:

collecting at the lower portions of the boiler may be blown out of the boiler very thoroughly as desired by theengineer without interrupting the operation of the boiler or requiring the locomotive to be stopped. y

Prior apparatus for removing sludge has involved a stopping of the locomotive and an exhausting of the `vsteam through complicated and restricted valves and piping 4which resist blow off of the sludge and easily become choked with the sludge deposits so as to .necessitate frequent cleaning. The systems hitherto in use also vent only a part of` the boiler at a time so that the stirred sludge is only partly removed and the remainder oit settles in other parts of the boiler fand is not removed. The residue thus accumulating requires the boiler to beopened `and cleaned at frequent intervals depending'upon the rapidity of the deosition of the sludge.

n the system of this invention the entire sludge area isv opento the blow fl' at the lsame time with no chance for the sludge lto move from one part of the boiler andsettle in another during the blowoll. The opening of the blow off 'valve is also under the control of the engineer from theA engine seat at all times and may be opened by him wherever there is anexcess of steam as when the train is coasting or running lightly down grade.

I)In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention p Fig. 1 is avdiagrammatic side view of a locomotive boiler provided with the cleaning system of thisinvention.

Fig. 2 is a view of a part ofFig. 1 on enlarged scale.

' Fig. 3 is a sectional View on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

2o, 1924. serial No. 750,972. I

a portion of the boiler showing the barrel` blow olf p ipe in plan view, and

Flg. .5 1s a verticalelevational View of the blow o valve arrangement as seen from'.

the front.

I'n the specific embodiment lof the invention shown in the drawings the locomotive boiler has a barrel portion 6 extending forward from the water s ace 7 surrounding the fire box space 8 (Fig. 3). SludgeI will attempt to collect at the bottom of the front portion of the water space and along the bottom of the barrel 6. To remove this sludge the barrel 46 has a pipe 9 running along the bottom of the barrel and held in place spaced from the floor of the barrel bythe 'brackets 10. The front end of' the pipe 9 is' closed and along the under surface 'of the vpipe are a series of openings 11 each opening having an area substantially equal to the cross sectional area of the pipe 9. At its rear end the pi e9 is connected by elbow 12 or in any ot er desired man- `ner to a laterally extending pipe 13 extending outward through the side ofthe boiler and leading to a blow olf valve mechanism 14.

The water s ace -7 at its lower portion is provided wiih a sepa-rate sludge pipe 15 spaced from the bottoml of a water space and running laterally across the boiler just in back of the throat sheet 16. The under surface of the pipe 15 is provided with three large openings 17 each opening being f substantially equivalent in area to the cross sectional area of the pipe 15. The end of the pipe 15 on the left side of the boiler is closed and the other end of the pi 15 is extended out through the right si e of Y the boiler to the blow olf valve mechanism Each of the blowoff valve mechanisms 14 and 18 comprises a valve adapted to be opened or closed b the turning of a handle '19 and normally t is handle 19 will be left turned to full open position. Offset to one side on each Valve, mechanism is a second valve casingl 20 having a valve controlled by the spindle 21 extending downward to a pivot connection with the lever member 22.

When the lever 22 is lifted the spindle `21 f will open the valve of the casing-20 to nermit the escape of steam carrying with it the accumulated sludge out through the opening 23. If anything interferes 'with the operation of either of the valves inthe casings 20 the corresponding handle 19 will be turned to close this valve which may then be operated by the handle until the lever operated valve is again in condition for operation. The outlet opening through each of the valves is at least equal in area to the cross sectional area of the corresponding blow off pipe 9, 13 or 15.

To place the control of the blow oii's with the engineer or iremanin the cab of the locomotive the levers 22 are connected by links 24% and 25 to a bell crank 26 pivoted at 27 on a bracket 28 stationary on the locomotive, the other end of the bell crank 26 being connected by a rod 29 to a blow ofi operating handle 30 in any convenient location in the engine cab.

liith the system of this invention the water at each local water tower will prefer`- ably have added to it a softening compound particularly adapted to neutralize the scale formingI ingredients in the water at that tower and this softener when the water is heated within the boiler results in the deposition of a sludgy material instead of a sealy material adhering to the surfaces of the boiler and all that the engineer has to do is to open the valves to blow oit' the sludge to the atmosphere from time to time either when the engine is still in the yards or when traveling, the time of blow 'ofi of course being when there is a surplus of supply steam available for this purpose. Both the blow off valves are necessarily o en si multaneously so that both of the slu ge accumulations are moved outward through the discharge pipes at the same time andlvery quickly as the large full openings-into the pipes and through`| the pipes and through the valves (gives an unrestricted outlet for the sludge and steam. The valve o enings 23 may be provided with elbows 31 dlrecting the final opening as desired to prevent blowing of the discharge back on to the engine or train and permitting the blow off to be used regardless of the direction of the wind. In this way the boiler will be kept clean of both scale and sludge and it has been found that even under the most severe conditions and operating with very highly mineralized water an engine boiler may be run a month without any necessity for washing it.

I claim: 1. The combination with a locomotive boiler having a plurality of spaces liable to accumulate sludge, of a plurality of pipes having openings 1n saidspaces, a valve on each pi e," and a sin le control for simultaneous y opening sai valves, said pipes b eing so arranged as to carry olf substantially all the sludge in the boiler when the valves are opened without inducing any substantial circulationof the boiler water and sludge in the boiler.

2. The combination with a locomotive boiler having a barrel and a Water space, of sludge pipes extending longitudinally of said barrel and laterally of said Water space, each of said pipes having a control valve and a single control means for simulta neously operating said valves.

3. The combination with a locomotive having a cab and a boiler having a barrel and a water space, of sludge pipes extending longitudinally of said barrel and laterally of said water space, each of said pipes having a control valve disposed outside ot said cab, and a single cab control means for simultaneously operating said valves.

a. IThe combination with a locomotive boiler having a Water space and a barrel liable to collect sludge, of sludge blowpfli' pipes extending longitudinally aiong the bottom of said barrel and laterally across the bottom of said Water space, individual means for opening said pipes on the same side of the locomotive, and a single control means for simultaneously actuating said means for opening both ofsaid pipes to the atmosphere to simultaneously blow out the sludge from said wate spacel and said barrel.

5. rll`he combination With a locomotive boiler having a water space and a barrel liable to collect sludge, of sludge bloweoftl pipes extending longitudinally along the bottom of said barrel and laterally across the bottom of said ywater space, individual means for opening said pipes on the same side of the locomotive, and a single control means for simultaneously actuating said means for opening both of said pipes to the atmosphere vto simultaneously blow out the sludge from said water space and said barrel, said control being operable from the locomotive cab.

6. The vcombination with a locomotive having a cab and a boiler provided with a forward barrel portion and a rearward water space portion, said cab bein dis osed adjacent one of said portions, o a s ud e pipe extending longitudinally along t e bottom of said barrel portion of the boiler and having an atmospheric discharge at one side of said locomotive, a second sludge discharge pipe extending laterally adjacent the bottom of the water space portion and also having an atmospheric discharge, each of said ipes having a control valve disposed outsi e of said boiler, and means for operating said valves simultaneously from said cab, said arrangement of pipes and operation of valves/'substantial- 1y preventing circulation of boiler water and stirrin of slud e in the boiler.-

7. .T e combination with a locomotive having a cab and a boiler provided with a forward barrel portion and la rearward water space portion, saidcab being disposed adjacent one of s'aidferf'tions, of a sludge pipe water space portion and also substantially adjacent the juncture of said boiler portions,

said lateral sludge pipe also having a discharge substantially adjacent said other discharge, each of said sludge discharge pipes having a valve, and means for operating said valves simultaneously from said cab so as to blow simultaneously the sludge from the barrel and Water space portions.

8. The combination with a locomotive having a boiler provided with a forward barrel portion and a rearward water space portion, of al sludge pipe extending longitudinally along the bottom of said barrel portion of the boiler and having an atmospheric discharge, a second sludge discharge pipe extending laterally alon the bottom of said Water space portion su stantially adjacent the juncture of said barrel portion and Water space portion, each of said pipes having a plurality ofl valves, means for simultaneously operating a valve on each of said pipes and means for manually operating the remaining valves, said valves and operating means being so arranged that said simultaneous and manual operations are independent of each other, while fluid flow through said simultaneously operated valves is dependent upon said manually operable rvalves being open.

9. The combination with a locomotive having a cab and a boiler provided with a forward barrel portion and a rearward water space portion, of a sludge pipe extending longitudinally along the bottom of said barrel portion of the boiler and having an atmospheric discharge, a second slug discharge pipe extending laterally along the bottom of said water space portion substantially adjacenty the juncture of said barrel portion and water space portion, each of said pipes having a plurality of valves, means for simul taneously operating a valve on each of said pipes, means for manually operating the remaining valves, said valves and operating means being so arranged that said simultaneous and manual operations are` independent of each other, while 'luid iiow through said simultaneously operated valves is dependent upon said manually operable valves being open, and said means for operating said simultaneously operable valve being operable from the cab 'while the other valves are operable from outside the cab.

10. In a locomotive, the combination with a boiler having a forward barrel portion and a rearward water space portion, of a cab mounted on said Water space portion, a y

sludge pipe extending longitudinally along the bottom of said barrel portion of the boiler and havingy a lateral discharge at the side of said locomotive, a second sludge disk charge pipe extending laterally along the bottom of the water space portion and also extending outward to discharge at the side of said locomotive, valve means at the side of said locomotive for controlling said pipes, and means for operating said valve means from said cab so as to simultaneously blow the sludge from the barrel and water space portions. 1

SAMUEL JOHN LUP'roN. 

